Mr Justice Bryan handed down a 46 page Judgment in which he set aside, pursuant to s. 67 of the Arbitration Act, an investor-State Award given by a Stockholm Chamber of Commerce Arbitral Tribunal that was seated in London.

The Commercial Court accepted GPF’s arguments on treaty interpretation, the application of the pro tem principle, and the applicable principles of international law concerning creeping expropriation. The Court concluded that the Tribunal should have found that it had the jurisdiction to adjudicate on the Claimants creeping expropriation claim and also that the Tribunal was wrong to find that a claim for fair and equitable treatment (FET) did not fall within the scope of disputes that can be submitted to arbitration under Article 9.1(b) of the governing bilateral investment treaty (BIT).

It is the first time that an investor State award under a BIT has been set aside by an English Court.